Sepia Toned Loving
by mrs clark gable
Summary: Soul mates are the people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect, but they are always perfect for you. AU Lumi.
1. Fake Fate

**New fic, finally. This is a little different this time, it's an alternate universe. It's based on the 1994 movie Only You, starring Marissa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. If you've seen it before, there will be some changes made and if you haven't then you should. That's about it, now read, and remember to trust me.**

_Way Back When_

"Eric, stop pushing it!"

"Hurry up, my foot's falling asleep. This is so stupid."

"Shut up, I'm trying to write it down."

"It's a stupid name, Sami, it doesn't mean anything."

"It's not stupid, it's my destiny."

"Puh-lease, you're eleven, you don't have a destiny."

His sister sent him an annoyed glare over the Ouija Board and he had to hold back his laughter. It was so easy to make her mad.

"Of course I have a destiny, everyone does, even you. Now, shut up, the spirits are trying to tell me the name of my soul mate."

Please, like soul mates were real. Sure, Sami was his twin and he guessed he loved her, but she was such a _girl_ sometimes. She went so far as to turn off the lamps and light candles for a stupid "Ouija board atmosphere." He just wanted to know who was gonna win the World Series, but this was taking too long.

She'd never have to know that he was pushing the indicator to hurry it up. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, besides if she ever did find the kid it would be hilarious. The guy was such an idiot.

"Okay, I got it." Sami beamed at him from over the table they were sitting at and he fought to hold in a snicker, "The man I'm gonna marry is… Austin Reed."

_Fast forward to Modern Day_

"Destiny. What do you think when I say 'Destiny?'"

Sami looked around her classroom, hoping to find some spark of interest. The last class of the day was always the hardest to get motivated. A girl a couple rows back raised her hand, "Like fate, or something?"

"Yes! Fate," she looked down at the dictionary in her hands and tried to put some enthusiasm in, "A predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power. Destiny."

Falling into the swing of things, Sami made her way to the board and grabbed a white board marker, "Plato had this theory that everything on earth began as a circle, and then the Gods sent a lightning bolt down and split the circle right down the center. From then on, people's entire lives have been spent searching for the illusive other half."

She moved away from her diagram on the board and back to her students, "Basically, what destiny's saying is that if everyone just stopped, and went with the flow, everything would fall into place."

The bell signaling the end of the day let out its shrill shriek and she fought to get her last words heard over the bustle of students packing up, "Have a great vacation everyone, and don't forget your outside reading."

…………………………………………….

Finally having found the bottle of wine, Sami settled back on the floor Indian style. She popped the cork and filled the three glasses on the table, "I think Brandon's going to propose."

From her position on the couch Nicole gave a little squeal, although she didn't miss Sami's flat voice, "Oh my God that would make us sisters-in-law!"

"We're already sisters-in-law, or did you forget about Eric."

She let a forced smile out, "Oh, I didn't forget about him, this is just better."

Jenn, the other occupant in the room, couldn't resist throwing her two cents in either, "Sisters-in-law on both sides kind of makes it like full blown sisters, doesn't it? I can't believe you landed Brandon Walker, I mean, he's a doctor."

"He's a podiatrist," Sami countered flatly.

"Feet are important."

She took a deep breath to deliver the blow to her best friends, hopefully Nicole wouldn't get mad, "I think I'm going to break up with him."

She had to fight down a crazy giggle when their eyes nearly popped out of their heads, "B-but you just said…"

"I know what I said. It's just… I'm never going to get divorced, so I've got to be sure I marry the right guy. I don't think Brandon's 'the one.'"

Swallowing down her disappointment, Nicole walked over to put an arm around her friend's shoulders, "You know, Sami, life isn't like the movies. Romance everyday and love songs aren't real. They're a commercialized hoax sent out into the world to feed people's fantasies."

"I don't think it's too much to ask to feel something with my whole body and soul. Nicole, somebody wrote those songs. They came out of somebody's experience."

"No, they came out their imagination," her cell rang, giving her the perfect opportunity to hide her pessimism for a little while longer, "I got to take this, it's my husband."

"Say 'hi' to my brother for me."

Nicole rolled her eyes as she walked into the kitchen for privacy. Like Eric called for the sake of saying 'hi,' he was probably looking for clean laundry, "Hello?"

"Hey, babe, do you realize there's no food here? When are you coming home?"

"I'm with my friends right now, Eric. Go find your own food, and don't call me 'babe.'"

"You used to love it when I called you 'babe.'"

With a sad shake of her head, Nicole fought off tears, "You said it differently then."

She hit the end button and returned to the living room to find Sami and Jennifer hovering over a piece of paper, "Oh, for the love of God, a pro-con list. You're such a dork, Jenn."

"Shut up, Nicole, we've got to help Sami somehow."

"I've already decided," the phone rang again, this time the house phone, "Damn, I've got to answer it. Brandon's having his calls forwarded here while he's in surgery. Hold on."

She ran over to the apartment phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, is Brandon there?"

"No, he's in surgery, can I take a message?" Not really paying attention, Sami wandered over to the pro-con list. At the man's assent, she turned to grab a clean piece of paper and a pan, accidentally twisting herself in the phone cord.

"Tell him that Austin Reed can't meet him tomorrow for lunch or anything else. I'm on my way out of town. I'll call him when I get back."

It took a second for her mind to fully comprehend what he was saying and when it finally did, she nearly dropped the phone out of shock, "D-did you say 'Au-Austin Reed?' Where're you going?"

"Uhh, Versailles. Just tell Brandon I'll see him later, I'm going to be late."

"Wait!" She practically shouted, but he didn't hear her. The dial tone rang out at her and she almost tripped over her own feet and the tangled phone cord, "I've got to go to the airport."

Without actually looking at either one of her friends, Sami ran out the door and down the hall.

**Now, if the mention of both Austin and Brandon hasn't turned you off, then I'm glad you trust me. This is very much a Lumi story because I will never write anything else. Just blame Eric and look forward to around the third chapter, that's when it'll get interesting.**


	2. Crazy

**Thanks for sticking in guys, I promise it will be more Lumi-esqe soon. This whole mess is necessary for the plot, but I had to throw in a little snippet of Lucas in this chapter. I kind of missed him, that's why I'm updating so soon. There's not really much back story to give. Sami and Eric had a happy normal childhood, the parents don't actually come into the fic. Lucas never moved to Salem, so if he is Bill Horton's son, then he doesn't know it. This also means he doesn't know Austin or Billie or Jen. That's also not really an issue. Let's place both of them in their mid to late twenties.**

Sami's heart pounded as she ran through the airport without stopping, only two more gates to go. She wasn't sure what she was going to say or how she was going to act, but it had to be done. She had to know, that's all there was to it. She almost made it, too.

The stupid ticket checker, or whatever he was, just had to go and stop her. Men were pigs! Taking a deep breath she stalled for time, "Alright, I'm sure I've got it here somewhere," she checked her pockets, thinking that if she distracted him enough she could get on the plane, but his knowing look stopped her, "Okay, so I don't have a ticket. But, I've really gotta see someone on that plane."

"I can't let you on board without a ticket, miss. It's too late anyway."

Letting out a mournful sigh, Sami turned to watch the plane take flight. Now, she might never know.

…………………………………….

It was a surprisingly easy decision. When Sami called from the airport to ask her to bring a bag full of clothes for her trip, it took barely any thought to offer to go along. Eric was just going to have to fend for himself. It would teach him a lesson.

She left a message on the home answering machine and that was all there was to it. A care-free vacation in Versailles with an unknown end date was just what she needed. Jerk could die in a ditch for all she cared.

Nicole found herself on a plane to France with her sister-in-law slash best friend with minimal pangs of remorse. It was actually very simple, if only Sami wasn't so crazy.

"How do we know where to find him again?"

"I called all of the hotels in the area. He's registered in the Hotel Residence du Berry. I've got it all figured out, don't worry."

She barely held back her sigh, it seemed this was only the beginning, "Of course you do."

……………………………….

Sami looked around the beautiful hotel in amazement. It was something out of a storybook, "Wow."

"Sami, I don't think we can stay here." It was a loud whisper and she could tell that people were staring at them.

"We've already come this far, we have to see if he's here."

She grabbed her sister's arm and together they made it to the front desk, "Parlez-vous anglais?"

She sure hoped so, because her French was more than a little rusty, in fact, it was practically non-existent.

"Yes, yes, how may I help you ladies?"

"Reservation for two under the name Samantha Brady, and could tell us which a Mr. Austin Reed is straying in?"

"One moment please," the man gave them a pleasant smile and typed into his computer, "Mr. Reed has already checked out."

The cruelest words in the history of the world. It wasn't possible, it wasn't right, "What do you mean checked out?"

"I mean he is no longer in this hotel, mademoiselle," he lifted the set of keys to room 376 and jangled them gently; "He returned his keys."

Sami looked about ready to rip the guy's head off and Nicole knew what that meant, they were in for trouble. With a gentle hand, she led her friend away from the desk, "Let's sit down for a minute."

Sami took a deep breath before letting her thoughts form into words. She had come too far to turn back. "We probably missed him by a few seconds."

Nicole patted her hand kindly, "I know, honey. It sucks."

"No, you don't understand. They probably haven't cleaned out his room yet."

"Oh, no."

……………………………………….

Sneaking into room 376 had been much easier than she had expected. Sure Nicole kept looking at her like she was crazy, but it was a small price to pay. It was something she needed to do for her own peace of mind.

"Where should we look first?"

"I don't know, Sami. What would Colombo do?"

From her position on the floor, looking under the bed, Sami shot back, "Was Colombo even a detective? Geez, how old are you anyway?"

"This coming from a woman who went across the Atlantic to find guy she's never seen before. You're acting like you're six."

"Just, help me look. It's not like you'd understand this anyway. You've already got Eric."

Dumping out the wastebasket, Nicole huffed sarcastically, "Yeah, I've got Eric. I've got Eric who spends too much time working and then ignores me when he's home. I've got Eric who expects me to be a happy little housewife," her voice dropped sadly, "I've got Eric who's probably having an affair."

That got Sami's attention, and quickly, "What! Oh my God, did you see him?"

She continued to rift through the trash to keep her hands from shaking, "No."

Sami's brow crinkled slightly, "Did you hear him say something?"

"No," she wiped some sticky something off her hand in irritation, this was not how she'd planned on telling Sami.

"So how do you know?"

She took a deep breath and looked at her friend, "I just know."

"Oh," Sami finally let it drop, but, really, the thought was never far from Nicole's mind.

With a new determination to shut the depressing thoughts out, she looked at the trash again. The only thing that might have been worthwhile was a note on a crumpled piece of paper, "Hey, can you read French?"

Dropping her hold on one of the bureau drawers, Sami rushed over, "It says… uhh… wait, it's an address. 'Trouve' I know that word, it's… umm, find. Okay so he's finding someone named Michele at a café on the Champs-Elysees. That's in Paris, right? 'Vingt heure' that's eight. They use military time, right?"

Somehow she knew she wasn't actually looking for an answer, and then she was being dragged out of the door. She was half way convinced her friend was crazy, "So, we're going to Paris?"

"Yes! Don't worry, it'll work," Sami continued on enthusiastically, but there was one more thing she had to say, "Nicole? Do you remember that Thanksgiving in ninth grade when we all played football?"

"Umm, yeah, I guess."

"Well, you remember how you were being all prissy and refusing to play, until Eric convinced you to. Then after that, you hurt your ankle and had to sit out."

Why did it have to be about Eric? "Yeah, what about it?"

"It's just, well, he sat out with you. I know my brother and he's insanely competitive. That was the day I knew that he had really fallen for you. I can't believe he would have an affair."

That day had made her feel so special, changes sucked, "A few years ago, I wouldn't have believed it either."

……………………………………………………

Lucas was bored. That's all there was to it. Maybe Paris wasn't as big a deal as everyone made it out to be. He certainly wasn't having much fun. The whole conference was almost over, and then he could go back home to New York. But, really, there wasn't much waiting for him at home either.

It sucked to have nothing to look forward to. He was in a beautiful city and he was all alone. It was a crying shame. From his position lying back on the bed he turned to look at the clock. It was only one o'clock. Thank God he had gone to Military school, or else he'd still be getting used to the change around here.

Maybe later he'd go to a movie or something, right now he was just going to stay on his back wishing for something interesting to happen.

**Tomorrow I'll have the third chapter up and that will bring Lucas right into everything. Here's a hint, he meets Sami. Once he's in the middle of everything, I'll slow down with the updates. I'm just impatient to get into some lumi action.**


	3. Lying

She hadn't been able to find out what hotel he was staying at, it would have taken too long, and this time she didn't have hours to spare. The little place she and Nicole found was nice, she could admit that, but that didn't change the queasy feeling in her stomach. She was just nervous, it definitely wasn't dread building up. That had to be it. Everything was going to go great. If only she knew where the café was. There were _hundreds_ of them.

"Come on, Sami, let's just check in. We'll find the place later."

Nicole led the way to the front desk and she tried to ignore the fact that her friend was annoyed with her. Well, what did she expect? Eric _was_ her twin, of course she would try to fix things. Nicole didn't have to be so bitchy about it… or start flirting with that guy over there.

She had pulled her away as discreetly as possible, but the guy probably heard her hissed whisper of, "What do you think you're doing?" anyway.

Nicole jerked her arm away with a huff of impatience, "He's going to help us find the café, so I don't know what you're complaining about."

"How about the fact that you're married? To my brother!"

"I also left your brother."

Sami rolled her eyes, it was way too soon to rebound, "Don't do the revenge thing, Nicky."

"Relax, he's just a nice guy. He wants to helps us."

Eyeing the guy carefully, she couldn't help but notice his eyes on her friends ass, "Yeah, _us_," her voice turned serious as her thoughts turned to her twin, "I can't stop you, just don't sleep with what's his name, okay?"

Nicole smiled at the resignation in her friends voice. It wasn't wrong to want to feel special every once in awhile. "You must think I'm the worst kind of whore," she hooked her arm through Sami's companionably and leaned in to whisper, "And his name's Claude."

………………………………...

"Okay, Claude said we need to hang a right a flower shop and then we'd see it," Nicole stopped right in front of a little outdoor café filled with people, "Should we sit?"

"Yeah."

She looked back to find her companion wringing her hands and she knew that wasn't good. Sami was nervous and Sami was annoyingly insecure when she was nervous, "Come on," she waved her over and added, "And don't worry so much. You look hot."

Sami laughed a little at the complement and smoothed her dress again. It was a deep red that fell a little past her knees and showed a little more cleavage than she was used to. It was supposed to make her feel confident, but she couldn't help shaking her long blonde hair over her shoulder to cover up. He should like her for who she was anyway.

They had been sitting at their table long enough for her to finish a cappuccino, it was like she'd thought before: annoyingly insecure, "Shouldn't you ask a waiter or someone if he's here?"

"How would they know? And anyway, I want to see if he'll notice me first."

Sami looked around as she spoke, like she was expecting him to appear out of thin air or something.

"You pick _now _to play hard to get? Sami, you flew across the Atlantic to met this guy! And you used my credit card!"

"You offered, and this is fate. He _could_ notice me first."

Nicole stood up, already tired of this game, "I'm asking."

"Wait," but it was too late and she was already gone. Sami sunk down in an effort to be swallowed by the floor as Nicole gestured to her. She couldn't explain the feeling taking over, but it felt a whole lot like fear, with a dash of embarrassment.

Nicole was back in a matter of seconds with a cat-who-caught-the canary grin, "Well?"

Pointing off to her left, she answered, "He's over there."

Lifting up from her seat, Sami scanned the crowd, "Oh my God," excitedly she grabbed Nicole's hand, "I can see his sleeve!"

"Yes, yes, this must be a thrilling moment," she countered sarcastically, "Go talk to him."

"Okay," she took one last deep breath and nodded to herself.

This was it. A few more steps and she'd see him. There was a hint of dark hair, oh, and he was wearing a dark blue jacket. Around one more corner and then… a line of waiters. There had to have been hundreds of them, that was her only thought. Desperately, Sami strained her neck to get a glimpse, but it was impossible. Stupid waiters! The last one was about to pass by, but the space between him and the wall seemed big enough. There was no reason not to squeeze through.

Pandemonium. Mass pandemonium, that's what she had created. Almost in slow motion, Sami watched the poor waiter try to avoid her impatient pushing, and then catch himself on a table leg. Vainly she tried to keep him from falling, but it was too late. The crash of glass and tiny French food was heard throughout the café.

At least fifteen people came out of nowhere to help clean up and check on the server, but Sami was already off. Austin had to still be there, he just had to. Finally she reached the designated table, and her heart sank down to the pits of her stomach. He was gone.

How did this keep happening! It was beyond frustrating, another close call. She had missed him by seconds. But maybe she could still catch him.

For the second time in two days, Sami forgot everything else. She forgot that Nicole was waiting for her at the table. She forgot that there was a huge mess behind her that had been all her fault. She forgot that she was wearing heels. And she ran.

There was really no way that she could know which direction he had gone in, but she ran anyway. She didn't stop when the people stared at her for yelling at the top of her lungs. She didn't stop when she bumped into some dark haired guy and lost her shoe. She just didn't stop.

…………………………..

Lucas had been having a fairly nice evening. Yeah, seeing a movie alone kind of sucked. And, yeah, Will Ferrell wasn't exactly _funny_ dubbed in French, but all in all, the night wasn't too bad.

His evening would have continued on in a wonderfully uneventful way, had it not been for the blond tornado that had come barreling into him. She barely had enough time to throw an apologetic glance over her shoulder before she was off again. Without one shoe, no less.

Deciding to be the gentleman he grabbed the red pump and started jogging after her, "Arrete! Votre chaussure, Cinderella. Arrete."

He was about five feet away from her when another blonde, this one tall and thin, grabbed her friends arm. Slightly out of breath, he stopped in front of them, "Finalment, votre chaussure."

He held the shoe out in a gesture for the girl to take it, but she just sank down on the bench without looking out him. Her friend offered him a small smile, "Thank you."

"Oh, good, you're American," he almost gave her the shoe, until he noticed that the heel shook a little when he moved it, "Why don't you let me fix this, and you can help your friend."

Lucas sank down on his knees next to the bench and tried to hide the way his eyes kept drifting to the owner of the shoe, or the fact that he was listening to their conversation.

"Sami, are you okay?"

The tall one turned next to the one he couldn't stop looking at. So her name was Sami, he liked it. Somehow it fit the way he would imagine she'd be. She snapped out of her daze to look at her friend and he could see a little sparkle in her eyes.

"Alright, so I lost him again, but I've got a plan. First, we're gonna rent a car, and then we need a loudspeaker. See, we'll hook it up, and then drive around paging him."

Finally, he got the heel to feel reasonably secure and moved to give it back to Sami, but he didn't want to leave. There was more he had to know about her, like who she was planning on paging. Without really giving it more than a second's thought, Lucas gently picked up her ankle and slid the shoe on. Dear Lord she had the softest he'd ever felt. Too bad she didn't even look up.

"What do you think?"

Her friend nodded her head at him and added pointedly, "That was really sweet."

Sami looked at him for barely a second, yet somehow her preoccupation intrigued rather than annoyed him.

"I meant about my idea, Nicole."

"Oh," she took a breathe to add effect, "Well, I think it's time we got some professional help."

Sami's eyes widened in discovery and he couldn't tear his eyes away, "Like a detective."

Nicole shook her head gently and he almost laughed out loud at her tone, "Like a psychiatrist."

Her nose crinkled in genuine confusion and he found it adorable, "How's a psychiatrist gonna find him?"

"Oh, Sami, honey," her friend's voice was heavy with loving pity, "why don't we go back to the hotel?"

His stomach was doing jumping jacks. He didn't want them to leave. He didn't want _her_ to leave. He had been wishing for something interesting to happen to him all week and it finally had, in the form of an angel (who he suspected had a devilish side underneath). But she was walking away to get a cab and they hadn't even exchanged words. Thinking quickly, he walked over to Nicole.

"What's up with your friend?"

She looked at him speculatively and he could tell she wanted to shock him, "She's looking for her soul mate, who she's never seen before."

"Huh," he watched Sami trying to flag down a cab, "Well, if she's never seen him before, how does she know he's her soul mate?"

Seeing that her friend was getting frustrated, Nicole started to walk away, with him following closely behind, "She got his name off a Ouija board when she was eleven."

"Oh, of course," his heart nearly stopped when he saw a cab slowing down for Sami and he finally had to address her directly, "Look, maybe I could help you guys out. I mean, I speak a little French."

She looked him over for a second, "I don't think so."

He stepped in front of the cab door and took a second to enjoy the fire in her eyes, "I can help you. Just tell me his name."

"We've got it covered."

Lucas held the door tighter as she tried to pull it again, "Come on, just tell me."

She was really getting annoyed now, and he found it exhilarating, "Fine, it's Austin. Austin Reed."

It was a split second decision, one he didn't understand completely. But looking at the woman in front of him, he knew he couldn't walk away, "You're kidding," carefully he schooled his features into shock, "_I'm_ Austin Reed."

**And now you know.There are plenty more surprises ahead, so stay tuned. I apologize if my french isn't perfect. I do study it, but I'm no where near an expert.**


	4. Truth

"Y-you're…" fighting off the overwhelming shock Sami's eyes moved down to his suit jacket. His dark blue suit jacket, "Oh my God."

Her heart felt like it was beating overtime and the corners of her mind were beginning to get fuzzy. It was all too much and her body desperately sought for a release from the overly shocking information. That was when she dropped.

He enjoyed the way her eyes went wide with shock. He watched the way her hands were shaking in a barely perceptible way. What he didn't expect was for her to faint. It was only his quick reflexes that kept her from falling to the ground, "Well, that's a first."

Gently Lucas tapped her cheek while struggling to hold her upright, "Sami? Sami, snap out of it."

Slowly her eyes fluttered open and he saw her struggle to focus on his face, "Austin?"

He just continued to stare into what had to be the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Neither heard Nicole say, "I'll just leave you two alone," nor did they notice when she walked away. All they could see was each other.

………………………………...

"Are you…"

"I…"

Sami laughed a little and gestured to let him keep talking, mostly just watching the way his mouth moved. He was cute, like really cute. He had the adorable, slightly floppy dark hair and the intense brown eyes of a man she could see holding her attention for a long time. And he wasn't too tall. Tall guys were incredibly annoying.

"I'm sorry, I…it's just that you're too pretty and I'm too nervous," he ran his hands through his short hair and chanced a glance at her, "I was just going to ask if you were cold."

With a tiny giggle, Sami bumped her shoulder against his playfully, "Nope, I'm not cold," she ducked her head shyly, "Everything's perfect."

With a smile that nearly stopped her heart, he closed the already small gap between them and grasped her hand, entwining their fingers together, "Yeah."

There was an undeniable force of heat that slid through her when he touch her and Sami had never imagined it would be this amazing. The name from the Ouija board suddenly had a face and a personality and she couldn't have been happier with who he turned out to be.

Lucas continued on, blissfully studying the placement of every freckle and gently stroking the skin if her hand with quiet grazes of his thumb, "This is amazing. I mean not even an hour ago I was having a perfectly boring evening and then…boom."

Sami smiled prettily and squeezed his hand, "I know. I can't believe it," her nose wrinkled up yet again and she turned to him, "Maybe it's too amazing."

His breath nearly stopped for a second and he desperately searched his mind for any way that she could have found out about his lie. It was over before it had ever begun.

"We don't want to go into this with false expectations."

His heart resumed its beating and he could breathe once again as he saw the challenge in her eyes. She didn't know anything, "Okay?"

"I think we should both tell each other the most embarrassing thing we can think of about ourselves, that way we know what to expect."

Austin smirked at her and she couldn't contain her grin, "Fine, but you're going first, Cinderella. It was your idea."

Sami half-laughed and moved a little closer to face him, her head tilted as she mock thought. "Hmm, okay I got it," daringly she moved a little closer, "I…" a little closer, "spent $8.50," her hand brushed the lapels of his jacket, "to see _From Justin To Kelly," _closer still, "in the movie theater," demurely she looked up at him with laughter in her eyes, "and I liked it."

Roaring with laughter he threw his head back and slipped his arms around her waist to pull her the fraction of an inch closer that was left between them and Sami enjoyed the how wonderful he looked when he smiled like that.

His forehead came to rest on hers and his voice dropped along with his eyes, "You wanna know a secret?" his lips moved a decimeter closer and she fought to breathe properly, "I liked it, too," his lips were just barely brushing hers now. If she spoke they'd practically be kissing, "but only because," his eyes moved up from her lips to meet her gaze and she melted in their depths, "it was so bad, it was good."

Hers lips were suddenly dry and without thinking she wet them with her tongue. Just barely she brushed his as well and he groaned out loud, "Funny how that happens sometimes."

"Yeah," and without another word his lips finally descend completely. A first kiss had never been so good.

………………………………...

"You didn't," laughing, Sami tried in vain to get a glimpse of Lucas, but he kept his arms firmly in their place.

"Yeah, I did. My mom was furious."

"Man, you were a terror. I can't see how she could have put up with you."

Attempting a wounded puppy look, Lucas squeezed her gently, forgetting that at the angle they were sitting at she couldn't see his face, "You kidding? How could anyone resist this face?"

"I guess your face isn't _too_ bad."

Laughing he pulled her further back into his embrace and whispered in her ear, "Brat."

Contentedly, Sami thought about the picture they would make right then. She and Austin were sitting in an empty park, cuddling like two teenagers and waiting for the sun to rise after talking all night. His jacket was swallowing her small frame and he was gently twirling a long strand of blonde hair around his finger. It was ridiculous and completely perfect.

"I think my mom would love you," she let out a happy laugh, but gave him no other response and slowly his mind began to drift to more serious thoughts. Sami was happy in his arms right now, but he couldn't lie to her forever. It wasn't fair. He couldn't loose the woman he was quickly falling more and more in love with because of some faceless stranger with the right name, "I feel like I've known you my whole life."

Tenderly tracing patterns on the hand resting in her lap, she smiled teasingly, "Now you're stealing lines from movies."

"I am not," with mock indigence.

"Are too. That's from _The Lady Eve_. Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda," her voice turned teasingly deep, "Lies, deception, romance, true love. I've seen that movie a million times with my grandma, you can't trick me."

Chuckling he placed a tiny kiss on the back of her neck, "I wasn't even thinking of that."

"I'm surprised you've even heard of it."

"I have a Grandma, too, you know," his lips were still busily entertaining her neck and Sami was soon too caught up in the tide of emotions playing with her heart to attempt anymore in depth conversation.

………………………………...

The sun was almost finished rising in the background while Sami and Lucas occupied themselves on the balcony of his hotel room.

She had never moved this fast with any man before, in her life, but her fingers were quick to unbutton his dress shirt. Her lips were happily occupied with his when the first inkling of guilt popped up out of nowhere.

She pulled back for the tiniest of seconds before he her pulled back into him and she knew she had to tell him just one more thing. It really shouldn't have been a big deal anyway.

"Austin?" he gave a barely discernable grunt in reply and her lips moved languidly to his earlobe, "I have something to tell you," slowly she moved down the column of his throat.

His voice was muddled with desire and that filled her with a surge of pride, "Nothing you can say will change how I feel."

With a husky laugh her hands traced the contours of his chest, "Good, because I..." a teasing kiss to his lips, "really, it's just a technicality, but…" she nuzzled his neck affectionately, "I have a boyfriend."

It took a second for his jumbled mind to grasp her words, but when they hit it was enough for him to pull away, "What?"

"And you know him. It's Brandon, th-that's how I knew how to find you."

"Brandon?" He knew that he had no idea who this guy was, but damn, she had a boyfriend.

Desperately, Sami moved back in, gently seducing him with her lips, "I thought I'd never find you. He doesn't mean anything."

Sinking quickly back into desire he wrapped his arms around her once again, "It's okay. I understand."

His hands had just begun to wander again when she mumbled against his mouth, "I have to call him."

With one last swift peck she moved into the inner room. Lucas watched in helpless shock as she picked up the phone and began to dial. This was quickly getting out of control. He had to tell the truth; he didn't want to, but he had to. He slipped in quickly and intercepted the phone. With a gentle push she was lying back on the bed with him on top of her as he half-heartedly tried to fit the phone back into its place. He sipped at her lips one last time and her hands tangled in his hair.

"I need to use the phone," he silenced her with one more kiss before gathering his strength.

"I… there's something I have to tell you, since we're being honest."

She traced his jawbone with one hand and he couldn't help praying to God that she wouldn't hate him for one tiny little lie, "You can tell me anything."

Sighing, he moved in once again with a kiss to her forehead, "You see," moving down to her nose, "I'm not," one more to the corner of her mouth, "only in the most literal sense," he moved in with a soft kiss to her mouth, "I'm not Austin Reed."

Happily Sami sank into another kiss before the words could fully hit her. Everything went still and desperately she triedto understand incomprehensible words. Shock and horror raged in her mind for control and it was with unexpected violence that she pushed him off of her, "You-you…"

He landed with a crash against the bureau against the wall and for just one second she winced for him. But, thinking better of it, she hoped it hurt like hell. In fact, she hoped he got a concussion.

"Okay, you're upset," Standing up he ran a hand through his hair, "That's understandable."

"You lied to me! Wha... I...Who the hell are you?"

With shaking hands, Sami grabbed her shoes from the floor beside the bed and prepared to storm out without waiting for an answer.

Moving quickly, Lucas blocked the door, "My name is Lucas Roberts, okay."

Fire spitting from her eyes, she tried to move past him, "Get out of my way."

Moving with her command he watched her struggle with the lock, "Let's talk about this, I mean we can work it out. You can still call me 'Austin,' it'll be like a nickname. It's not really that big of a deal."

"Not that big, you lied to me!" Sami looked at him incredulously, "Open the door."

Quickly he complied, "I can't believe you're going to let a few little letters of the alphabet keep us apart."

With the door finally open, Sami practically ran to the elevator and jabbed the down button, "'A few little letters,'" the doors clanged open and she rushed in, "Why would you do this to me!"

With frustration mounting Lucas yelled out, "Because I'm in love with you!"

"What kind of reason is that!" the doors clanged shut infront of her incredulous expression and Lucas could do nothing more than look on in helpless despair.


	5. Revelations

"Sociopaths," Nicole rooted around in her bag searching for some aspirin while Sami lay in a heap on the bed, "They find out what you want them to be and they become it."

With a groan Sami lifted her head the slightest bit to look at her friend, "But how could he know? He only just met me."

"Who knows? Men have their ways," she grabbed a paper cup from the sink in the bathroom and filled it with water and then deposited both into Sami's hands. She sank down into a chair next to the bed, trying not to let her defeat show, "Men suck. It's not something new."

"I just don't get why he did it."

"It must be some chemical in their brains. They see a pretty woman and its their first instinct to lie. Don't ask me why, but they can't seem to help it. Look at my life, Eric is the king of liars and I never would have expected it from him."

"You know I don't believe that. I still think you should talk to him, Nicole. You love each other."

She looked off to the side at nothing in particular, "That's not always enough."

…………………………..

With a huff, Nicole smoothed her hair in the mirror and tried in vain to make it look less poofy. Claude would be here any second and she had to look her best. Sami, as usual, had made the spur of the moment decision that they would be going home tomorrow morning, so she had to find a way to say goodbye and she wanted to make him suffer a little. Then at least one man would miss her.

The hotel phone caught her gaze out of the corner of her eye again and Sami's words ran through her head _"you should talk to him." _But what did Sami know, anyway? He hadn't tried to find her or contact her. He was probably just at home sitting on his lazy ass. He might not even know she was gone, it wasn't like they spent huge amounts of time together anyway.

And yet, the pull of the phone was getting stronger and it wouldn't really hurt to talk to him.

…………………………

Eric Brady sat at the kitchen table in the apartment he shared with his wife just staring at a bowl of cereal. It was almost completely full of Rice Krispies, but they were quickly become a soggy mess of goo. He didn't really care either.

The apartment was so lonely without her in it. It was almost another place completely. A cold, deserted horrible place. And all he had left was a message on the answering machine, _"Eric, I'm leaving you. Don't forget the electric bill's due soon."_

What the hell kind of goodbye was that? He had almost made the decision to try and eat the mangled mush in front of him when the phone, blessedly, rang. Distractedly, he picked it up while in the process of dumping the cereal in the garbage, "Hello?"

Dead silence. There was no one there, "Hello?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath and a crazy connection was made in his mind, "Nicole? Babe, is that you?" his hand gripped the phone a little tighter, an unconscious assurance that she wouldn't slip away, "Where are you, Nicky? Are you okay?"

Exactly fifty-six seconds of agonizing silence and then he heard the receiver click softly back into place on the other end, "Nicole?"

…………………………

Okay, so calling hadn't been the best idea, but how could she have known that. He had sounded so desperate, too, almost like he actually missed her. She almost reached out for the phone again, but fought the impulse down. It would be a sign a weakness and Nicole Walker-Brady was not weak.

Any deliberations that were about to continue inside of her mind were interrupted by the knock on the door. Checking her hair once more in the mirror, she opened the door expecting to find Claude on the other side, but instead came face to face with the largest bouquet of flowers she could ever remember seeing.

The flowers shifted to show a man she wanted to punch on her friend's behalf, "Look, I just want to…" he finally realized Sami hadn't answered the door and quickly changed his approach, "Is she here?"

"No," he walked in without an invitation and Nicole had to roll her eyes.

"Okay we've got to talk. Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's getting our tickets home right now," she moved over to the mirror deciding that the dangly earrings she was wearing didn't go with her outfit, "Is this some sort of genetic thing? A guy'll say anything to get laid?"

Lucas lay the flowers on the table and continued to follow Nicole around the room, "Now that's not fair. One, I didn't get laid, and two there was something there. I know it was crazy…"

"Ya think? She's furious."

"Look, I may not have the right name, but I'm the guy. I panic, but I can fix this. You can't let her leave."

She sprayed some perfume in the air and walked through it, giving her an air of superiority, "Well, we're leaving and she'll probably end up marrying Brandon."

"That's ridiculous, he's not good enough for her."

"Hey, you don't even know him. He's a doctor, that's every girl's dream man."

"Not Sami's." Just the thought was enough to make him rip his hair out.

She moved over to toss some lipstick in her purse and Lucas really wished she'd stop being so distracted, "There's nothing else you can do. Why'd you lie to her like that."

"I literally had to, okay. She was going to leave and I couldn't let that happen," she continued moving until he grabbed her elbow, "Can you just sit down for a second? Please?"

Finally Nicole relented and he seated her in a chair. He ran his fingers through his hair and prepared what he was going to say, this was his last shot, "Alright, I'm not supposed to be in Paris right now. I should be in New York leading a really unsatisfying life where my mother visits me every weekend. I work my ass off for this idiot who has no idea what he's doing. He's only in the company because he's the bosses' cousin or something.

'Anyway, he was supposed to take this trip, but he got measles. _Measles_ at forty-three. So they sent me, which is ridiculous because I'm not even close to the next highest up. And I wasn't supposed to be out on the Champs-Elysees, either. I went to see a movie that night, but it sucked, so I left. So I was just walking around, about to go back to my hotel room, and then bam," His hands were gesturing wildly and he finally moved to kneel in front of her to make her see the impact last night had had.

"And she was there and it was amazing. It was like this instant connection, it was something that had never happened to me before. I looked into her eyes and I couldn't leave. It was physically impossible. And something came over me…"

"Mania?" Nicole's disbelief was plain.

"Whatever. She fell in love with me too, by the way."

"You met her last night."

"It only takes a second. But she started walking away and I had no idea what to do. I prayed to God to give me a sign, just some way to keep her there with me. I couldn't let her walk out of my life forever. And she said the name. Granted, it wasn't my name, but it was a chance," he spread his arms in the centuries old sign of appeal, "If that's not destiny, then I don't know anything."

Nicole looked at him, really looked at him and she couldn't help being touched, "That's really romantic," she lowered her head to look at him more closely, "Is it a lie?"

He let out a growl of frustration and shot up to his feet, "It's a name for God's sake. You know this is ludicrous. You know she's crazy, and this guy, by the way could be some pervert. He could be a criminal, or married, or really sick," Lucas dropped down on a chair and leaned in towards her, "He could be some self-righteous, holier-than-thou idiot with a hero complex. Sami would hate that."

Reluctantly, Nicole nodded her head, "Yeah she would."

"I mean, realistically, what're the odds that he's some fantastically great guy."

Thinking over the men she'd known in her life, she once again found herself agreeing with him, "About ten billion to one."

"Exactly," he slammed his hand down on the table in triumph, "Do I have an ally?"

Nicole was interrupted in her assent, by a knock on the already open door, "Nicole, are you ready?"

Claude stood with a single flower in his hand and confusion on his face. Quickly, she stood up and grabbed her purse, "Yeah, I'm all set," she gestured off to her left, "This is Lucas, Sami's friend."

He nodded in comprehension and she flashed him a smile, completely forgetting that she had been in the middle of a conversation. This would kill Eric if he knew. She was half way out the door when Lucas called her name looking for an answer. She considered it for only a half a second before replying, "I'll see what I can do."

**I know there wasn't much lumi action, or any really, but let's consider it a transition. It's much better for Lucas to have Nicole on his side.**


End file.
